Which brand do you think Americans most associate with America? Coca Cola? Google? A Vanity Fair/60 Minutes poll found that almost half of all Americans say Wal-Mart best symbolizes America today, with the mega-retailer notching 48% of the responses in a survey of more 1,000 people. Google and Microsoft came in second and third with 15% and 13%, respectively. The National Football League picked up 6%, while beleaguered and demonized Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs notched 3%, perhaps a nod to Americans’ self-loathing in the midst of the economic crisis.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that Wal-Mart, with its voracious appetite for growth and ubiquity in American communities, tops the list of most American brands–especially because its “everyday low prices” are a consolation for our recession-era collective limited spending power. More surprising are the brands that are not represented at all. Coca Cola, a symbol of American-style capitalism throughout the Cold War and an aggressive pusher of its brand in the popular consciousness (Interbrand just named it the No. 1 brand in the world for the ninth straight year and the company’s VP of design graces Fast Company’s October cover) doesn’t even make the top five.

Also conspicuously absent: General Motors, once the proud face of America’s strong manufacturing sector and one of the world’s largest companies. Somewhere Don McLean must be heaving a disappointed sigh.